


waiting on you

by misstaken



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Anal Sex, Awkwardness, Cock Rings, Consensual Sex, Dirty Talk, Hand Jobs, M/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Phone Sex, Porn With Plot, Sugar Daddy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-01-25
Packaged: 2018-09-17 06:17:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9309155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misstaken/pseuds/misstaken
Summary: Noctis had fantasies of traveling the French countryside after graduation. However, student loans have a way of destroying dreams like no daemon he could have conjured in his nightmares - until he meets a man with an unforgettable smirk and an unlimited credit line who has fantasies of his own for Noctis.Part of an Ardyn AU anthology.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The unofficial soundtrack of this piece is Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails.  
> This is NOT be non-con at any point (in case that's a deal breaker for you in either direction).  
> Owlteria on Twitter drew some beautiful companion artwork for this piece! Thank you soooo much ♥♥♥  
> https://twitter.com/owlteria/status/822166539885367296

“Would you take a look at this steak? I've never seen something this well done in my life. Is this medium rare in anyone’s book?” The woman sighed dramatically, pushing her plate a few inches away with disgust.

  
“I'm sorry,” Noctis replied, “I don't consider this to be medium rare either. I’ll have the kitchen remake it for you, would that be all right?”

  
“Gratuity isn't included in the bill at this restaurant,” her date added, “correct, Nathan?”

  
“It's Noctis, and no, not for a party of two. I apologize for the steak, I can get a manager if you'd like?”

  
“I’d like a steak that I can consume,” the woman said, “sometime this evening.”

  
“Understood. I'll get that started for you, and we’ll get you another Tempranillo in the meantime,” Noctis nodded and turned around, offending plate in hand and molars grinding together as he walked back to the kitchen. Two other tables signaled him on his way, so he dropped off the plate, gave clear instructions as to how the steak needed to be cooked so he didn't get filleted himself, and circled back to every table in his section before ducking behind the register and breathing out the longest sigh he could muster.

  
“Rough night, huh?” Cindy said, swiping a credit card through the reader. Noctis nodded, taking a long drink of water, soothing his parched throat and frayed nerves. “I saw Medusa and her boyfriend putting you through hell. If I wasn't up to my eyeballs with corporate greed times five, I'da come put them right in their place,” she continued emphatically, her southern twang slipping out as it always did when she was upset.

  
“I think she needed the bloody steak ‘cause she's got no blood in her body,” Noctis said in a low voice, “but the customer is always right, right?” He rolled his eyes, his back to the restaurant. Saturday nights were always physically and psychologically trying, especially for someone as introverted as Noctis; by the end of his shift, he was always so drained that even small talk with the other wait staff was beyond him. He glanced towards the kitchen and saw the steak on its way out, hand-delivered by the head chef. “Almost done?”

  
Cindy gave the third card in her pile a run through the reader, and Noctis watched her turn the card over and hum. “Ain’t had one of these in a minute,” she drawled, “Let’s hope the CEO squad over there tips like they spend.”

  
Noctis peered over Cindy’s shoulder. “Never seen an Amex like that before,” he said, her red nails contrasting sharply against the black plastic. “Who are those guys?”

  
“Who knows,” Cindy shrugged, “All I could catch was something about a takeover. Wall Street nonsense, probably. Hey, after we’re off, you wanna get a beer or something?”

  
“Pass. I gotta be here for brunch tomorrow,” he replied. “We aren't all lucky enough to be the boss’s granddaughter.” Cindy patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, gathering her closed checks and heading back out amongst the tables. Noctis took Cindy’s place at the register, vaguely hoping his tables would tip anywhere near what she would get from her table of big shots, but mostly counting down the hours until he was done for the night.

  
\---

  
Sunday brunch was the worst time to be a waiter, Noctis decided; his tables consisted of mostly lingering groups with stingy tips. Cindy wasn't working so he was able to pass the time without too much idle banter outside of small talk with his tables, which worked well for him as the brunch crowd was much chattier than his tables the night before. While forcing pleasantries and refilling hundreds of cups of coffee, Noctis thought of the semester he’d spent in Paris during his junior year of college and decided if he knew then that the only time he'd use his French major after graduation was to properly pronounce wine varietals, he would have listened to his advisor and majored in something like engineering. The thought of that much math made his head hurt, but at least he wouldn't be anyone’s beverage bitch for hire.

  
He stopped at his lone table for one, collecting the plates from the table himself instead of bothering the busboy. Brunch wasn't a meal that was normally eaten solo, at least not in Noctis’s experience as a waiter, so he had spent slightly more time at this table than his others that morning.

  
“Can I get you anything else, sir? More coffee?”

  
He wanted to blame his interest in the man on empathy for a fellow introvert, but Noctis would be lying to himself if he said the man wasn't attractive. He looked to be in his late thirties, with auburn hair down to his shoulders and a smattering of soft-looking stubble across his face and chin. The man’s clothes were interesting, to say the least; Noctis had seen a lot of questionable fashion choices in his twenty-two years of living in New York City but somehow this man managed to carry off an odd combination of pleats, scarves, and floral prints that were better suited for someone’s grandmother’s living room than on a grown man’s body.

  
The man smiled up at Noctis, the corners of his mouth curving slyly. “Another cup of coffee would be lovely, Noctis,” he replied. “I suppose you’d like to settle the check, open up this table for someone else?”

  
“Take your time,” Noctis said, “you’re easy.” He let a genuine smile cross his face instead of his normal fake grin. There was something about him that was already under Noctis’s skin; he shook the feeling off and carried away the dishes, returning with a carafe of coffee.

  
“Oh, I'm anything but easy, but I’ll take that as a compliment. Have you worked here for long?” the man asked, and Noctis could feel his eyes tracking his movements while refilling the porcelain mug on the table.

  
“About a year. Do you eat here often?” Noctis set the carafe down, “I can leave this here if you’d prefer.”

  
“It's recently become a favorite, and if leaving the coffee means you won't be coming back, then I’ll decline,” he said, showing teeth this time with his smile. Noctis wasn’t completely naive. He knew when he was being hit on, and this man was taking a very direct approach, though he was a terrible flirt and always felt awkward when someone made a pass at him. After Medusa and another table stiffed him last night he decided that a good tip was a good tip, and Noctis decided to leverage the man’s interest to his advantage.

  
“No worries,” he finally responded, picking up the carafe, “just let me know when you need a refill.”

  
Three cups of coffee and multiple brilliant smiles later, he waved Noctis over again. “Thank you, Noctis,” the man smiled again, producing a black credit card from an embossed leather wallet - the same type that Cindy had run last night. “I've had a lovely meal. My compliments to the chef.”

  
“Do you need to see the check-” Noctis said, and the man waved his hand dismissively, their fingertips brushing together as he handed the card to Noctis. The touch raised hairs on Noctis's arm, and he decided this was one weird dude, but he was hot and crazy in equal measures. Noctis checked the name on the card as he walked back to the cash registers: Ardyn Izunia. Foreign investor, maybe. Then again, Noctis Lucis Caelum wasn't exactly a common name either.

  
Another table pulled him away after he set the check on Ardyn’s table, so by the time he returned to collect the bill Ardyn was already gone. Noctis opened up the black folio and saw a note from Ardyn and two hundred dollar bills tucked behind the credit card slip.

  
_Nothing quite like service with a smile_.

  
Noctis's stomach twisted, a combination of embarrassment and elation. Ardyn didn't seem like a philanthropist, so there was definitely something at work behind the exceedingly generous tip; however, Noctis decided to ignore whatever misgivings he had about the man for the time being and concentrate on the fact that he could afford to get drunk with Prompto when he came to visit in a couple of weeks and still make rent and bills this month.

  
\---

  
Ardyn was at Hammerhead again on Monday. Cindy was his waitress that day, and Noctis tried to focus on his own tables but every time he turned around, he caught Ardyn watching him, a sly unsettling grin crossing Ardyn's face whenever they made eye contact. Hammerhead had a number of regular patrons but the same person coming in three days in a row didn't pass without comment.

  
Noctis expected to see Ardyn again on Tuesday, and was somewhat relieved, but vaguely disappointed when the night passed without a trace of the auburn-haired man. He didn't expect that Ardyn would tip as well as before, but it wouldn't have been unwelcome.

  
Wednesday was his first day off in five days, and on Thursday, when Noctis arrived at Hammerhead for his shift, Cindy met him in the back room and stared at him, hands on her hips and eyebrow raised.

  
Noctis raised an eyebrow at her. “What? I saw you tried to call me...I went fishing, service blows down by the lake.”

  
“Amex Black was here again yesterday. Apparently he asked Iris to seat him in your section, and he left when she said you were off.” She sighed. “I've got a strange feeling about this guy. Do you know him from somewhere?”

  
He shook his head. “Nope. I had his table for Sunday brunch, that's it. Weird dude, but the city is full of weirdos. You just haven't lived here long enough,” Noctis said, hoping his blank face disguised the jumble of emotions coursing through his head - confusion, intrigue, and a hint of anticipation.

  
“We had plenty of weirdos in Biloxi,” Cindy laughed. “Okay, okay. I'll leave it alone, you're a grown man. But y'all know I'm here for you if stuff gets TOO weird, understand?”

  
He nodded and finished tying on his apron, waiting for Cindy to leave before standing in front of the mirror, fixing his hair and fluffing it out in the back so it didn't look like he'd just spent a half hour sleeping on the A train. There was no sign of Ardyn for a few hours and Noctis managed to forget about him entirely, hustling between three large parties that night. He stepped outside during a lull to catch his breath and reset his temperament, and practically on cue Ardyn turned the corner.

  
“Noctis,” Ardyn regarded him with a nod and his signature smirk, “I was just leaving the office and thought I'd see if you were working tonight.”

  
“Y’know, there are other restaurants in Manhattan,” Noctis said, dropping his waiter’s polite mannerisms while keeping his guard up. “Hammerhead’s good and all, but…”

  
Ardyn laughed, throwing his head back. “You can't expect me to believe you're so naive, Noctis. I saw you watching me on Monday night, as much as I was watching you.”

  
Noctis swallowed and pushed his hand through his hair. “I mean, you were staring at me. People notice that stuff.”

  
“You liked it, didn't you? Having someone pay so much attention to you.” Ardyn leaned towards Noctis, and he realized in that moment how much larger Ardyn was; the older man had always been sitting during their interactions. Noctis stepped to the side and tried to ignore his golden brown eyes and the strangely intoxicating scent of his cologne. Now that he and Ardyn were outside of the confines of their waiter and diner relationship, he decided he was going to get some answers.

  
“What do you want from me?” he asked bluntly. “I appreciate the generous tip, but I'm gonna be straight with you, this is a little jacked up. You're kinda stalking me and my coworkers are starting to ask questions.” He paused. “This isn't about one of my dad’s business deals, is it? Cause I haven't heard from him since I was fifteen.”

  
“I've no idea who your father is, Noctis, although you've piqued my interest even more,” Ardyn chuckled. “All right, I'll have my dinner elsewhere tonight, on one condition.”

  
“Shoot.” Noctis folded his arms over his chest.

  
“I’d like to see you after your shift is over tonight.”

  
Noctis blinked. Even if he hadn't been getting creep vibes on and off from this guy, the last thing he wanted to do when he got off work was play Ardyn’s reindeer games. “Sorry, I've gotta get home. I have...stuff to do.”

  
Ardyn sighed. “Fair enough. I want you to call me, then. Does that fit into your hectic schedule?”

  
“It's gonna be late,” Noctis eyed Ardyn, and Ardyn shrugged nonchalantly, his hand darting beneath Noctis’s chin, tipping it upwards as he leaned closer.

  
“I can be up as long as I need to be.”

  
Noctis could feel the heat of Ardyn’s hand through his leather gloves, and he pushed Ardyn away quickly. He knew Ardyn noticed the color in his cheeks, however, and moved towards the restaurant. “I have to get back to work.”

  
“Of course,” Ardyn replied. “I imagine you're living the dream in there.” He offered a business card, blank except for a phone number, his hand lingering a moment too long against Noctis’s own.

  
The first words that came to mind were “fuck you” but Noctis shrugged instead, quashing the anxious flutter in his stomach and stuffing the card into his back pocket as he returned to the restaurant. “Later,” he said noncommittally, and he knew without turning back that Ardyn didn't leave until after he had closed the door.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *head in hands* you know when you say you aren't going to write things and then a bunch of enablers on Twitter fill your head with ideas? You write Trope City AU ArdyNoct. 
> 
> I would like to think that in this AU Ardyn and Noct are not both Lucis Caelums, just FWIW.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Captain, we've gone from Mature to Explicit.  
> NS4W.

By the time Noctis flopped onto the wire-frame futon in his living room it was almost midnight. Hammerhead was busy for a Thursday and the evening seemed to go by more quickly once he knew Ardyn wouldn’t show up. There had even been a table of women visiting from Normandy, and after Noctis slipped into French for a sentence or two, one of them wrote him her hotel room number on the bottom of the check with a heart next to it.

  
“Haven't been on a date in six months, and then this week…” Noctis shook his head. He rolled onto his stomach and fished the business card out of his back pocket. Silvie and her hotel room number were quickly forgotten; Ardyn, on the other hand, was at the front of his mind.

  
On Monday night Noctis had tossed and turned in bed, too anxious to sleep after he had opened his bank app and realized that he had missed one of his student loan payments, his data plan was nearly maxed out, and his car insurance was also due that month. The Regalia was an unnecessary expense while he was living in the city, but it allowed him a way to escape from the urban jungle of the boroughs.  
Noctis briefly considered selling it, but his student loans didn't deserve the Regalia more than he did.

  
He had closed his eyes and reached down to jerk off in an attempt to relax. Too exhausted to load porn on his phone, he simply let his mind wander as his fist closed around his dick. His usual spankbank wasn't cutting it that night, and when he thought of Ardyn’s voice in his ear and and hands on his body, he was hard in moments. Noctis had tried to conjure something or someone else, knowing he shouldn't let himself do this, but gave up and allowed thoughts of Ardyn take him over the edge.

  
Noctis stared at the card sitting in front of him on the futon and remembered Ardyn leaning over him outside of the restaurant a few hours ago. He hadn't been so conflicted about his feelings since before he had come out in high school. He hated talking on the phone, but since nothing else seemed to make sense tonight, he sighed and picked up his phone from the floor, unplugging it from the charger and punching in the first few numbers from the card.

  
“Fuck it,” Noctis put the phone down. “He doesn't get to tell me when to call him,” he said to no one in particular. He crossed the tiny apartment, stripping off his uniform of a charcoal button-up shirt and black pants, tossing them on his bedroom floor and peeling off his socks and underwear while the shower warmed up. After a hot shower he sat on the futon again in his boxer shorts and a t-shirt, phone in his right hand and Ardyn’s phone number in his left. The angel on his shoulder pushed his glasses up on his nose and told Noctis that it was too late to call; the devil floating on his side flexed his muscles and reminded Noctis that Ardyn did say that he’d be “up when he needed to be”, a double entendre for sure. He opened the phone again and typed in the last five digits of Ardyn’s number, pressing the call button before he could change his mind.

  
The phone rang three times and Noctis considered hanging up, but just as he took the phone away from his ear, the ringing stopped.

  
“Noctis,” Ardyn said, and he could hear rustling in the background before the other man spoke again. “Some of us have to work tomorrow as well, you know.”

  
Noctis rolled his eyes. “You told me you’d be up,” he said. “If you don’t want to talk-”

  
“No, I want to talk,” Ardyn’s voice was even, “I was just a bit surprised you kept your word. Do you always get home this late?”

  
“Hammerhead closes at eleven, and it’s a half hour home on the train.”

  
“I see. So you’re not too far from Manhattan. Have you always lived here?”

  
Noctis leaned back against the futon. He was tired and wasn’t really in the mood for the kind of throwaway conversation he had to make at the restaurant all night long. “Is this really why you wanted me to call you? Small talk? I’ve been making meaningless conversation since I got to work tonight and if that’s it, I’m going to bed.”

  
Ardyn drew in a breath. “I’m not sure which Noctis I prefer - the polite young man willing to do anything I ask in hopes of a better tip, or the smart-mouthed spitfire that challenges me at every turn.” He paused. “Noctis, as I told you before, I know you’re not naive. I wanted more than three minutes at a time to get to know you. Our conversation can proceed in whatever fashion we desire.”

  
“Okay…” Noctis cleared his throat, cradling the phone against his shoulder as he poured a glass of water. “So what do you do? For work. I don’t know anything about you other than your name and based on that black American Express, your credit line.”

  
“Some people make decisions about a person based on less,” Ardyn returned. “All right, if that’s what you want. My current job title is executive vice president of mergers and acquisitions, though I've held a number of positions over the years. Basically, I’m one of those one-percenters that you probably went to some protest about while you were at university, hoping to get free weed. I’m thirty-nine years old, never married, prefer red wine to white, and this is my natural hair color. What else would you like to know?”

  
“Why are you so interested in me?” Noctis took a sip of his water, sitting back down on the futon. He wished he had a computer other than his phone so that he could look Ardyn up while they talked.

  
On the other end of the phone, Ardyn sighed. “You’re such a tease, Noctis. Every time I think you’re picking up what I’m putting down, you start to act like you don’t understand. How old are you, anyway?”

  
“Twenty-four,” Noctis replied. “And I’ve never gone to a protest, but guys like you totally fucked the economy up.”

  
There was an audible laugh, and then continued muffled laughter. When Ardyn finally returned to the phone, his voice had taken a jovial tone. “I don’t care if you approve of what I do for a living. I live very well because of it, as you’ve noticed. When was the last time you didn’t have to worry about money?”

  
Noctis was silent.

  
“I thought so. Income disparity in post-recession America is such a drab topic for a midnight liaison.” Ardyn stopped for a moment. “Are you seeing anyone? Boyfriend...or girlfriend? Perhaps that blonde at the restaurant.”

  
“Nope. Cindy’s just a friend. I thought you figured out I was gay. You came on pretty strong for someone who wasn’t sure.”

  
“If you shake any tree hard enough, you’ll eventually get nuts.” Noctis could practically see the smirk on Ardyn’s face as he spoke.

  
“That's a shitty thing to say.” Noctis wrinkled his nose with disgust. Every time he started to let Ardyn’s voice and interest start to get under his skin again, he said something that made Noctis reconsider.

  
“Perhaps, but I’m glad that’s not necessary, at any rate. Does everyone call you Noctis? That’s an interesting name.”

  
“My friends call me Noct.” He stifled a yawn, hoping Ardyn didn’t hear.

  
“Noct, huh. Family name? You did mention your father…”

  
“I don’t want to talk about my father with you,” Noctis said, quickly putting an end to the discussion. “You wanted me to meet up with you tonight.”

  
“I did. This is a poor second to seeing you in person, but for now it will have to suffice.”

  
Noctis took a deep breath. “So...” He paused again, leaning forward and lowering his voice as if anyone was around to hear him, “where...did you want to go?”

  
“Well,” Ardyn hummed, “I was hoping you would meet me at my condo in Chelsea, but that’s wishful thinking; I’m sure you're far too street smart to go home with someone you just met, albeit an attractive stranger with a black American Express.”

  
“So a hookup,” Noctis said flatly. “You know, there are apps for that. You’re going to a lot of trouble for a...a one-night stand.” His stomach was twisted like a pretzel, and he wished he had anything with alcohol other than mouthwash in the house. This was awkward, but he had to admit it was easier than dealing with Ardyn and his smirks, stares, and touches in person.

  
Ardyn laughed again. “I'm something of a traditionalist, Noct. Those boys on Grindr do nothing for me. You, on the other hand...well, I don’t stay up until the wee hours of the morning for a random fuck from an app.”

  
The sudden profanity went straight to Noctis’s groin, and he held the phone with one hand and ground the heel of his hand against his dick to stifle his erection. “Is that what you want?”

  
“Is ‘what’ what I want?” The teasing tone returned to Ardyn’s voice. “I’ve no idea what you could be referring to, Noct. You’ll have to tell me.”

  
“To, uh...do it with me.” Noctis was beyond happy that Ardyn couldn’t see him in person, because his face was tomato red at this point.

  
“You’re adorable, Noct. I feel almost guilty telling you that I want to hold your arms behind your back and fuck you into an incoherent mess.” Ardyn’s voice was low. “How does that make you feel?”

  
Noctis put the phone down on the table and ran his hands through his hair, clenching his teeth and sighing. He thought about hanging up the phone, leaving Ardyn to his own sleazy thoughts, but as hard as he tried to deny his arousal it was becoming stronger with every silken word from the other man’s lips. He picked the phone back up and stared at the numbers and keypad on the screen.

  
“Hello? Noct? You didn’t hang up on me, now, did you?” Ardyn’s voice was tinny through the phone speaker. “Don’t leave me now, I know you’re not that cruel.”

  
“I’m here,” Noctis finally said. Everything about situation was bizarre, but he couldn’t force himself to put the phone down. He was still half hard and curious how much farther Ardyn planned to go with this.

  
“Wonderful,” Ardyn said, “Now, I’d ask you to send me a photo, but I don’t want to become a sexting scandal. Tell me Noct...if I were there...what would I see?”

  
“My shitty little apartment,” Noctis replied sarcastically, “You’ve probably got a closet bigger than my whole place.”

  
Ardyn chuckled. “Here we are, talking about income disparity again. I would like to discuss a possible solution to that problem with you, but for now I was actually going down the ‘what are you wearing’ path without being so cliche.”

  
Noctis was silent again. “This is messed up,” he said.

  
“You can hang up at any time, but if you were going to do that, I think you already would have,” Ardyn added teasingly. “Tell me what you’re wearing, Noct.”

  
His breath caught in his throat, a blush burning his cheeks. “T-shirt and boxers,” he replied quietly. Noctis heard movement at the other end of the line. He glanced at the clock on the microwave. One o’clock in the morning. He was so tired and horny already, there was no point in stopping now.

  
“If I told you to take them off, would you?”

  
“I...yeah, what the hell,” Noctis said, throwing caution to the wind. He stood up and peeled off his clothes, instantly feeling awkward sitting alone and naked on his cheap squeaky futon. He gathered his clothes and water and wandered into his windowless bedroom, illuminated only by the light of the phone. “Are you, uh, naked too?”

  
“No,” Ardyn said, “should I be?”

  
“I mean, it’s only fair right?” Noctis was bad enough at regular conversation; this kind of thing was totally outside of his comfort zone.

  
“Maybe next time, when we’re together in person,” Ardyn said smoothly. “Are you hard, Noct? I am, thinking of your naked body spread out for me.”

  
“Yeah,” Noctis said, looking down at his own erection. He was beginning to fall into Ardyn’s rhythm. “What should I do about it?”

  
“Do you like getting your cock sucked?”

  
“Uh huh. I like to suck too.” His hand strayed to his dick, smearing precome over the head with his palm.

  
“Excellent,” Noctis could hear a hitch in Ardyn’s silken voice and bit his lip. “Sometimes I like my partner to come before I fuck him, Noct. Men can be so tense, it just makes everything more difficult. You know, I can be a gentleman when I want to be, like you can be a respectful, polite servant.”

  
“I’m not your servant,” Noctis put the phone on speaker for a minute, reaching into his nightstand for his bottle of lube, flipping open the top and filling his hand with the slick liquid.

  
“That’s right, my mistake,” Ardyn laughed, “was that the sound of lube opening? Did I tell you that you could jerk off yet?”

  
“You’re not here,” Noctis challenged, “and I bet you’re jerking off too.”

  
“If I was there, I’d be fucking your mouth so hard you wouldn’t be able to backtalk me,” Ardyn’s voice was low and rough, “Does that turn you on? The image of you choking on my cock is exquisite. And yes, for the record, I am jerking off. Tell me how you like it. Educate me.”

  
“I’m um…” Noctis looked down at himself, “uh, my hand is around my dick and moving up and down…” He sighed. “Yeah, um...it feels good.”

  
“You’re terrible at this. You’re just going to have to show me, I suppose.” Ardyn’s long, dramatic sigh made Noctis think that he might actually just hang up the phone. “When you are at my place, Noct, I’m going to spread you out on my bed, like you are now but on eight hundred thread count sheets. Have you ever been fucked on sheets that cost more than you spend on food for a month?”

  
“No,” Noctis’s hand was back on his dick, gliding down to the base and then back up over the head. He held the phone with one hand and made the other into a circle, pushing upwards into it, imagining Ardyn’s full lips in its place.

  
“I want you to come for me, Noct. I’ll make you come however you like, and then it’s my turn to take my pleasure.” Ardyn’s breathing was faster and heavier than before. “Tell me you’re not a virgin.”

  
“Not a virgin,” Noctis replied gutturally, his hand moving rapidly along his prick, moments away from climax.

  
“Good,” Ardyn said, “because I’m going to fuck you, Noct, I’m going to open up your ass with my fingers and then fuck you into my mattress, fuck you until I break you and make you scream for me. You’ll barely be able to walk by the time I’m finished”

  
“Yes…” Noctis choked out, letting the phone fall to the pillow as he striped his belly with his orgasm. He heard a deep groan from Ardyn's end of the phone as he picked it back up, his heart still racing. There was no sound after that, and Noctis tipped the phone forward to see if it was still connected. Shortly thereafter, Ardyn’s voice returned.

  
“Did you come for me?” Ardyn’s pitch was even and smooth again.

  
“Uh-huh,” Noctis licked his dry lips. “Did you come?”

  
“Certainly,” Ardyn replied. “Noctis, I’m serious. If you aren’t sure of my intentions at this point, then hang up the phone and lose my number.”

  
“I’m not an idiot. We just had phone sex.” Noctis yawned, wrinkling his nose at the mess still on his stomach. He was going to have to shower again before sleep. “You said something about an arrangement or a solution earlier,” he remembered. “What was that?”

  
“That’s a discussion we can have in person,” Ardyn replied nonchalantly. “When is your next day off?”

  
Noctis yawned again, picking up his t-shirt shirt from the floor and scrubbing it over his midsection. “Sunday.”

  
“I’ll text you a location and a time to meet me.”

  
“OK,” Noctis blinked, quickly losing consciousness. “Night.”

  
He was asleep before his phone screen went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...don't blame me, it's not my fault Ardyn makes such a good Sexy Billionaire.  
>  Also, Noct being good at phone sex is not something I can fathom XD


	3. Chapter 3

One of the positives of the crowded New York City subway was that unless you made a spectacle of yourself, everyone was too immersed in their own square yard of space to care what the person next to them was doing. Noctis had his headphones on and his phone held close; as much as he knew nobody would see what he was texting Prompto about, he was still incredulous that he was actually typing the words that appeared on the screen.

> so wait he's 39? is he actually hot bc that’s kinda old man. he doesn't seem like a serial killer right

> um not exactly a serial killer but he's definitely kinda weird and yeah he's pretty hot, like actually hot, not even hot for an old guy hot

> what kind of weird? cause seriously dude im coming to to get wasted and hang out with u in a week not identify yr corpse at the morgue

Noctis typed out his response, revising it a few times before finding the right words.

> we had phone sex last night and now he wants to get together to do it for real

He paused before hitting send, deleting the entire text message just as his stop was announced on the train loudspeaker. He stuck his phone in his jacket pocket and squeezed through the crowds, jostling and maneuvering his way to the subway exit. Sometimes he wondered why he lived in a city of seven million people considering how few of them he actually felt comfortable with, but there was a peculiar calm that he associated with solitude in a sea of other humans.

Halfway through the lunch rush, Iris stopped Noctis on her way back to the host stand after seating a group and pulled him aside. “Noct, when you have a sec,” she said, “a courier just delivered a package for you. I've got it up front.”

He nodded, swallowing hard. There was very little doubt in his mind as to who the package was from. After last night, however, Noctis had no intention of opening it anywhere that Cindy or Iris could see; as much as Ardyn had turned him on, he still couldn't predict what the other man would do any better than he could the weather. Noctis focused his mental energy on his work, thankful for the Manhattan business lunch rush. The tables turned over quickly, tips were an expense report compliant fifteen percent, and the patrons had little interest in their waiter while they were eating, which kept Noctis from betraying his practiced customer service facade with curiosity and lingering thoughts of last night.

When Noctis paused at the host stand as he was leaving to pick up the package from Iris, she refused to hand it over unless he opened it in front of her.

“No way,” he shook his head. “I don't even know who it's from.” There was an ambiguous return address on the package but no name; the only other person who might have sent him a package at Hammerhead instead of his home address would have been his father, but he wanted to deal with that possible scenario in front of Iris even less than if Ardyn was the sender.

“What if it's a bomb or something though?” Iris whispered.

Noctis gave her a long look. “Seriously? That would mean you'd get blown up too, you know.”

Iris pouted. “Fine,” she sighed, “but you better tell me what was in there when you come in tomorrow, or I'll sic Cindy on you. She can squeeze gossip out of anyone.”

He shook his head and threw her a wry smile. “We’ll see. Night, Iris,” Noctis gave her a small wave and tucked the package under his arm, quickly walking to the subway and waiting for his train, phone in his free hand. There was a missed call and three texts from Prompto. He meant to respond but couldn't get a seat on the train, and could only do so much one-handed.

Ardyn would no doubt have some kind of smart remark if he ever said something like that to him, Noctis thought to himself, and decided that he was going to get some tacos and play videogames until he fell asleep tonight because he really needed to stop thinking about that crazy red-haired son of a bitch all the time.

Nine subway stops and one taqueria stop later, Noctis pushed his apartment door open with his hip, crossed the small room and set the cardboard box down on the table next to his bag of tacos. He stared at it for another moment and used his apartment key to cut through the tape, instinctively averting his eyes in case Iris’s impossible theory was true.

Inside the box was a white envelope on top of a larger plastic-wrapped package. He picked up the envelope, revealing a set of slate gray full-size bedsheets. He didn’t even ask himself how Ardyn knew what size bed he had - it fit perfectly into the strangeness of this entire situation. The brand on the sheets read Sferra Giotto, and Noctis typed the brand name into his phone and let out a low whistle when he saw the price per sheet. He didn't think his bed cost as much as these linens, and he set his phone down with an uncomfortable lump in his throat. Without even opening the envelope he knew it was from Ardyn, but he slid his finger along the seal and pulled out a folded white paper with a single sentence written in neat block capitals.

_Consider this a preview._

Noctis dropped the note on the table, resting his head in his hands and attempting to silence his libido. If he wasn't sure before, he now knew without a shadow of a doubt what Ardyn expected to happen when they saw each other, and he had two full days to decide exactly what he wanted to do. He considered texting Ardyn to say something about the sheets, but wasn’t sure if he wanted to thank Ardyn for another overpriced gift or tell him to stay the hell out of his bedroom and possibly his life. Neither seemed appropriate, and his grumbling stomach reminded him of his priorities. As he dug into his tacos, he texted Prompto back.

> sorry i missed u, was at work. GTA tonight?

Noctis chewed his tacos thoughtfully and watched for Prompto’s response.

> don't freak me out like that man!!! OK GTA works gimme 15 eating food now

He finished his dinner, showered and changed into gym shorts and a hoodie, and booted up his XBOX One, the last splurge he’d been able to make after graduation before his student loans started to come up for repayment. He wondered idly what it would be like to have the things he wanted without worrying what he would have to sacrifice in return. Before he could go too far down that train of thought, Prompto’s avatar came up on the bottom of the screen and soon after his enthusiastic voice was on Noctis’s headset.

“Don’t just disappear on me after you tell me some creepy old dude is stalking you, Noct!” Prompto admonished. “I was legit worried about you.”

“Sorry,” Noctis replied, booting up the game and inviting Prompto to a party. “You know I can’t text during work and the subway was packed coming home. Not a problem you guys have upstate.”

“So you’re gonna tell me about this guy,” Prompto said, “but first what do you wanna do? Liquor stores again?”

“Nah, let’s go steal a plane from the military base and then aggro cops downtown,” Noctis replied, “I feel like being a pain in the ass.”

“K,” Prompto’s character spawned next to Noctis, and they climbed into his car and sped together through Los Santos on their way to the airfield. “Now tell me about Old Sexy.”

Noctis didn’t respond for a few moments, trying to decide what exactly he wanted to divulge to Prompto. They had been best friends since becoming roommates as freshmen at Syracuse University. Prompto knew from their first week together that Noctis was gay and didn’t care one bit; the only time it bothered him was when he dragged Noctis out to bars and Noctis would get phone numbers from the girls that Prompto was interested in. The two men had seen each other through more than one bad decision during their time as friends, but Noctis was pretty sure that Ardyn was his worst one to date.

“Uh…” Noctis sighed. “He comes to the restaurant sometimes. Leaves good tips. Last night he gave me his phone number.”

“Did you call him?” Prompto said over machine gun fire.

“Yeah,” Noctis replied, “it was weird.” He considered telling Prompto about their conversation but decided to keep the details to himself. “I think he wants to hook up.”

It was Prompto’s turn to be silent. “Are you gonna? Even though he’s hot you said he seems kinda nuts. I hope it’s good crazy, not like private sex dungeon crazy.”

“I dunno, that’s kind of the problem.” Noctis’s character ran up next to Prompto’s, launching himself over a fence to avoid being shot at by a tank. His phone vibrated next to him; he glanced down, didn’t recognize the number at first, and then realized it was Ardyn. “Hang on a sec.”

> Did you receive my package?

> yeah um thanks they're really nice

> Good. Get used to the way they feel against your skin. Luxury is a wonderful thing.

> ok

> I’ll be dining at Hammerhead tomorrow night with a few associates. I trust there will be a table available in your section?

Noctis sighed. Prompto called to him over the headset, “Where’d you go, Noct?”

“Hang on, sorry, he’s texting me.”

Prompto laughed, and Noctis could detect a touch of anxiety in his voice. “You’re gonna hook up with him, aren’t you?

> make a res under yr name and ill see what i can do. gotta go now

He flipped the phone over and turned his attention back to his game with Prompto. “Maybe,” Noctis mumbled. “I’m seeing him Sunday.”

“Do me a favor,” Prompto took on a serious tone. “Text me where you’re going and let me know when you get home. I meant what I said, I’m not coming to Brooklyn to identify your body-” His steady voice abruptly became a high-pitched shriek. “Holy shit man, get in the car! They’ve got a rocket launcher and two helicopters!”

“Fuck me sideways!” Noctis slammed the triggers on his controller and let himself forget about Ardyn until he picked up his phone again after logging off for the night with Prompto, promising his best friend check-ins on Sunday and details on Monday. There was an unread text that he left untouched until he had stripped his bed and remade it. Noctis slipped between the layers of cotton sateen, luxuriously smooth against his bare chest and legs. His boxer briefs suddenly felt scratchy by comparison. He picked up his phone to set his alarm and opened his text messages.

> Practice your grip on the sheets after you make the bed tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow, Noct.

Noctis wouldn’t admit to the dreams he had that night after finally falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sat down to write something dirty and instead of channeling my inner sinner I channeled my inner interior decorator D:  
> A full size set of Sferra Giotto sheets runs about $830 USD.


	4. Chapter 4

“I bought new sheets for my bed,” Noctis was cornered in the back room of Hammerhead, Cindy and Iris both standing in front of him with arms crossed, blocking the exit to the restaurant. He glanced past Cindy’s shoulder, hoping he could catch the eye of anyone else in the kitchen who could help him get out of this situation.

“Sure ya did,” Cindy drawled. “I don't believe that for a minute. Why would you have ‘em sent here?”

Noctis thought quickly. “Stuff always gets stolen from my doorstep when I send it to my apartment.”

“I think you’re bluffing. It had to be from that guy who keeps coming here and asking for you,” Iris countered. “Ardyn Izunia. He has a reservation again today, and he pretty much demanded you as his waiter, said he’d pay extra to be sure of it. The guy is about as subtle as a sledgehammer.” She shook her head. “Why is he sending stuff to you?”

Cindy patted Iris on the shoulder. “Honey, you have a lot to learn about this world.” She glanced back at Noctis. “Listen, Noct, just keep your sugar daddy under control tonight, okay? Papaw doesn’t like it when customers start throwing their weight around. Says it’s not fair to his other regulars. It’s how he’s got so many, he wants to be fair to all folks considerin’ themselves royalty in this city, and lord knows there’s plenty.” She rolled her eyes at the last part of her statement.

He sighed and nodded. There was no arguing with Cindy when she had an idea in her head like this, and thankfully Iris normally followed Cindy’s lead; when the older woman backed off, Iris also let the subject drop. “Sure. I wouldn’t want Cid to be upset. I’m sorry.”

“If you need help with Ardyn, just grab me. I can charm the scales off a gator, although it’s much easier if the gator prefers lady gators,” she laughed. “C’mon, Iris, we better get back to work.”

Noctis had spent his train ride into the city level-headed despite knowing that there would be a certain tension while waiting on Ardyn and his cronies today; Ardyn was testing him, Noctis was sure, and he had been preparing himself since last night to remain calm under pressure. However, the calm gave way to anger after talking to Cindy and Iris.

Cid was an old associate of his father’s, and while the two men hadn’t spoken in almost as long as Noctis and his father, he offered Noctis a job when he was at his most desperate, about to be evicted from his apartment and defaulting on his loan repayments. Cindy took him under her wing and taught him how to wait tables at an upscale restaurant, and the staff meals kept him healthy when he was living on Cup Noodle. As much as Noctis disliked waiting tables, he didn't want to upset either of them and couldn’t afford to lose his job over the sexual whims of a rich narcissist. The only place hiring college French majors with no other work experience outside of the service industry was Starbucks, and that wasn’t the kind of career move he was looking to make.

“That son of a bitch,” Noctis muttered to himself. He thought about coming down with an unexpected stomach bug before Ardyn’s party was seated, but that would do nothing other than arouse more suspicion with Cindy and Iris, force himself to lie to Cid, and come up with an explanation for Ardyn as well. It seemed like he had no choice other than to suck it up and be the most cordially sterile waiter that Ardyn ever had.

Ardyn’s reservation was at seven; Noctis hoped that Ardyn would arrive early so he had a chance to talk to him, but the older man arrived at five til, accompanied by a slender, tall man a few years older than Noctis with chin-length silver hair and an impassive look on his face. As Iris seated Ardyn and his companion at a round table in the rear corner of the restaurant, Noctis observed Ardyn’s hand on the silver-haired man’s shoulder, and wondered for a moment about the nature of their relationship. He shook his head, sidelining those thoughts and resetting himself into professional mode.

Iris glanced at Noctis as she handed the two men their menus, and Noctis appeared behind her, his customer service smile spread wide. “Good evening gentlemen. Welcome back,” he said in Ardyn’s direction, then turned to the other man, “I’m Noctis, I’ll be taking care of you tonight.” He handed a leather-bound book to Ardyn, feeling Ardyn’s thumb press against his as the wine list exchanged hands. “How about a cocktail while you wait for the rest of your party?”

Ardyn grinned brilliantly. “What do you recommend, Noctis?”

“Dirty martini with blue cheese olives,” Noctis replied. He hated martinis, blue cheese, and olives, but the drink was always well received with the corporate crowd.

“I’ll have that, then,” Ardyn said. “Ravus?”

“Hendricks and tonic,” Ravus said, looking at Ardyn instead of Noctis when he spoke. “Aldercapt and the others had to wait for the valet. They’re on their way in.”

Noctis knew when he was being dismissed and nodded. “I’ll be right back with your cocktails.” He put the order in at the bar and watched Ardyn and Ravus at the table as he waited for the bartender to finish mixing drinks. They were engaged in conversation, leaning towards each other and examining something on a smartphone screen. Ravus was stoic and attractive, closer to Noctis’s type of man than Ardyn if he was honest with himself, and he wondered for a moment if Ravus was in on this egotistical game that Ardyn seemed to be playing. He realized that his jaw was set and teeth clenched, and he quickly passed it off as irritation before he could recognize it as anything else.

By the time he returned, the rest of the party had been seated, comprised of two younger men and two that were Ardyn’s age or older. He tried to eavesdrop on their conversation as he divided his attention evenly between the six men at the table, hoping to find out more about Ardyn’s line of work. There was an acquisition of some sort going on, something about Accordo Capital LLC and their female president and CEO. Noctis wanted to listen to the two older men, but throughout the two hour-long meal, Ardyn ceaselessly summoned Noctis with requests. Whether more water, another bottle of wine, or a dessert recommendation, it seemed as if Noctis was always at Ardyn’s side. On one of his many trips back to the kitchen, he pulled Cindy aside and begged her to take a couple of his tables, assuring her that he had Ardyn under control but couldn’t handle much more than him.

Noctis was standing between Ardyn and Ravus and suddenly felt Ardyn’s hand brush against the back of his leg, briefly squeezing his thigh just above the knee. Noctis’s smile was unwavering, masking his frustration as he suppressed his response to Ardyn’s attention. “Is there anything else I can do for you gentlemen tonight?” Noctis asked, purposely not looking at Ardyn while he spoke.

“We need to call it a night, Izunia,” one of the older men said with a tired chuckle, “Your hospitality will be the end of us at this rate.”

“Such an accusation! And here I was, just trying to be a gracious host and future business partner,” Ardyn replied. “Noctis, could you bring the check when you have a moment?”

Noctis produced the folio from his apron pocket, and Ardyn handed him the now-familiar black American Express card. He ran the card at the register, remembering a time when he couldn’t fathom how anyone spent three thousand dollars on a single meal. He tucked the check and Ardyn’s credit card back into the folio pocket and closed it, thankful that this ordeal was nearly over. He returned the card and bill to Ardyn and then went to check on another table, returning to find Ardyn alone at the table.

“Where did your associates go?” Noctis asked as politely as he could muster, digging into his book of waiter cliches. “Did they leave you with the bill?”

“You did well tonight,” Ardyn said, handing the check back to Noctis, making no attempt to pretend the gentle stroke of his fingers against Noctis’s wrist was accidental. “My colleagues were very impressed with my choice of restaurant, and we were able to close a deal I’ve been working on for some time. I think Ravus might even have been jealous of your unwavering attention to me, but he could learn a thing or two about service with a smile.”

Noctis swallowed two or three profane responses before Ardyn stood up, his presence much more imposing now that he was several inches taller than Noctis. He looked straight up at Ardyn and took a step in his direction. “Don’t do this again.”

“What do you mean, Noct?” The response was playfully naive, his brown eyes wide. “I certainly hope you’re not threatening me.” Noctis could smell the wine on the older man’s warm breath mixed with Ardyn’s own scent, and steeled himself before he spoke in a quiet voice, barely audible over the restaurant din.

“Whatever this is...keep Hammerhead out of it. We don’t all have hedge funds to keep the rent paid.” Noctis stepped back from Ardyn so as not to attract attention from either the other diners or the wait staff. “Have a wonderful evening,” he said in his regular tone.

“You as well,” Ardyn replied, placing his hat on his head and hands in his pockets as he turned his back to Noctis and walked away. Noctis watched him go and realized that he was still grasping the check folio tightly in his hands; he opened it and saw several hundred dollar bills tucked into the pocket. At the bottom of the check next to the computer-printed included gratuity was a hand-drawn smiling face.

\---

He awoke early on Saturday morning completely hard, fumbling for his phone on the nightstand to check the time. He expected at least a text from Ardyn late last night or the next morning, but the phone was silent. He buried his face in the pillow and thought about the night before, groaning into the soft pillowcase. As annoyed as he was with Ardyn’s behavior on Friday night, he was still undeniably attracted to the man, and thought about the brief flash of emotion on Ardyn’s face when he stood up to him at the restaurant. Based on their phone call, he didn’t appreciate being challenged, and Noctis wondered if Ardyn would respond to his transgression when they saw each other on Sunday.

Pressing his hips into the sateen sheets, he imagined Ardyn’s broad hand holding his shoulders down, fingers digging into his hips, daring Noctis in that silken voice to threaten him again. He should have been angrier with Ardyn for treating him like a piece of meat and putting his livelihood at risk, but in this particular moment, his dick pulsed and breath quickened with thoughts of Ardyn’s teeth in his shoulder, relentlessly driving his broad body against Noctis’s.

“Well,” Noctis sighed a few moments later, damp sheet in hand, “I needed to do laundry anyway.”

Noctis was mostly glad for a brief return to normalcy that day, and spent Saturday morning at the laundromat before heading to work in the afternoon. It was an unusually difficult night; the kitchen was short-staffed and the restaurant was busy as it always was on Saturdays. Neither Cindy nor Iris brought up the events of the previous evening, so he concentrated on keeping his tables happy and surviving the night. Noctis was so tired by the time he got home that he barely managed to get out of his work clothes and into bed before he fell asleep. When he woke up from a dead sleep at ten o’clock in the morning his eyes flew open and he went into a brief panic, thinking he overslept the brunch shift.

Noctis glanced down at his phone and saw that it was Sunday, remembering that he had the day off and he wasn’t going to have to beg for his job twice in twenty-four hours. Once his unemployment panic subsided, he rolled over, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and yawned, grimacing at his morning breath. He checked his phone again and saw that he had a message notification.

> 34th/Penn Station, east exit, 2:00 PM

> see ya then

Three hours later, Noctis was showered, shaved, and standing on the platform to the train towards Manhattan. He had no idea what he was supposed to wear to this rendezvous and was still irritated enough with Ardyn’s stunt at the restaurant on Friday night to put in much effort, so he went with his solid C game: a white t-shirt, dark jeans, and running shoes, throwing his puffer jacket on for good measure.

While waiting for the train, his mind wandered from topic to topic, flitting past Prompto’s visit in a week, touching anxiously on the balance in his bank account and finally settling on the potential outcomes of his meeting with Ardyn today. Everyone Noctis had slept with in the past was either a boyfriend or a drunken one-night stand. Ardyn, on the other hand, felt like a cross between a job interview and a blind date, and he had never been good in either of those situations. Thinking about this was making him anxious, so he turned his attention to his cell phone, but Prompto wasn’t posting anything on Instagram or Snapchat other than a bunch of selfies in front of his car. He suddenly remembered his promise to text Prompto when he knew where he was meeting Ardyn, firing off a message to his best friend as his train arrived. Noctis found a seat and closed his eyes, dozing off slightly until he started to hear the announcements leading up to Penn Station.

He ascended the stairs at the east entrance, shielding his eyes from the afternoon sun. Noctis scanned the passers by for Ardyn’s eccentric coat and scarf combination, checking the time on his phone. He was nine minutes late, and wondered if Ardyn had already given up and left.

“Noct,” Ardyn’s voice called to him from a few yards away, and he looked up from his phone to see Ardyn standing near a streetlight. As he approached, Noctis noted that he had traded his pleated cuffs and collar, pinstriped pants, and bizarre outerwear for a black cashmere sweater and tailored gray wool pants, a single scarf thrown over his shoulders instead of several. It was a subdued look compared to his usual repertoire and also allowed a better view of the older man’s physique; he was more solidly built than Noctis had expected. Noctis cleared his dry throat and shifted slightly, trying not to stare at the fitted sleeves or the way the pants clung to his thighs.

“Ardyn,” Noctis replied casually, glancing at Madison Square Garden behind him. “So...why are we here? You have Knicks tickets or something?”

Ardyn laughed and shook his head. “I suppose I didn't think you would accept a direct invitation to my place, considering how confrontational you were a couple of nights ago.” Ardyn stopped in front of him, eyes moving slowly over his body. “You look...comfortable...today.”

“You too. Where’s that weird jacket you always wear?”

Ardyn shook his head. “Not a connoisseur of fashion, I see.”

Noctis rolled his eyes. “Whatever. Maybe we should...uh, just get on with it. I don't have all afternoon.” He was lying through his teeth, but Ardyn didn’t have to know the truth.

Ardyn smirked. “I told you that I can be a gentleman when I want to be. I thought I'd at least buy you lunch and talk for a little while. Anywhere you'd like to go. At this point I think you're aware that money is no object.”

Fifteen minutes later the two men sat at a small table outside the Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Ardyn watched Noctis dissect his cheeseburger, picking off the lettuce and tomato and adding extra ketchup before taking a huge bite.

“I offer you any restaurant in Manhattan and you choose the Shake Shack?”

“I like their cheeseburgers,” Noctis replied around a mouthful of meat and bread. He swallowed and licked a drop of ketchup off his fingers, watching Ardyn's eyebrow twitch as he did. “Fries are good too.”

“It’s a good thing you’re on your feet so much for work,” Ardyn replied, taking a bite of his own sandwich. “I’ve got a trainer to put me through the wringer a few times a week. The results are worth it, I suppose.”

Noctis took a sip of his drink. “Must be nice, being able to pay someone to do whatever you need.”

Ardyn wiped his fingers on a napkin and crossed his arms over his chest. “What a convenient segue,” he said, “That’s what I wanted to discuss with you today.”

“Okay…” Noctis’s guard shot back up.

“How much debt are you carrying right now? Student loans, credit cards, car payments...anything I left out?”

“The hell?” Noctis choked on his bite of cheeseburger, coughing into his arm. “What kind of question is that?”

“A straightforward one. You’re fixated on my wealth and associated lifestyle. Every time we have a conversation you remind me that I’m a ‘have’ and you’re a ‘have-not’ in some way. Would you disagree?”

Noctis was silent for a moment. “...no,” he finally acquiesced, “It just sucks being broke all the time. I should have been an engineer or a doctor.”

“Medical school’s not worth your time and money,” Ardyn replied, “I was in my third year of residency when I discovered that there were plenty of paths to wealth without being wrist-deep in someone’s else's body - not that I’m against that, but only for pleasure these days.” He raised his eyebrow at Noctis, who bit the inside of his lip at the suggestion. “What did you rack up all those student loans for?”

“French,” Noctis mumbled. “Lot of good that did.”

“Say something in French for me,” Ardyn said.

“ _Mon aeroglisseur est plein d’anguilles_ ,” he responded, smirking as Ardyn would, assuming Ardyn had no idea what he was saying.

“ _Une seule langue n’est jamais suffisante_ ,” Ardyn’s lips curled into an even greater smile. “I love Paris, I have a small apartment in the 18th Arrondissement. The sheets on that bed are lovely too,” he added.

“I’m sure,” Noctis said, his pulse quickening at the promise in Ardyn’s words and voice. “Is there anything you don’t have?”

“You,” Ardyn leaned back in his chair, then forward to look Noctis in the eye. “I want you, Noct, and I feel confident that the feeling is mutual.”

Noctis shifted in his chair, a flush spreading up the back of his neck. “I mean…yeah,” he admitted, quickly checking to see if anyone was listening to them.

“You intrigued me at brunch, but after our phone call a few nights ago I’ve had you on my mind near constantly. I’m fairly certain Ravus was aware that I wanted to bend you over the table Friday night,” he continued, and Noctis swallowed hard, Ardyn’s words echoing in his head.

He remembered the silver-haired man and his icy expression. Noctis didn't think anyone had a stronger resting bitchface game than he did, but Ravus was a worthy competitor. “Who is he? Your ex or something?”

“A business associate,” Ardyn replied, “too hungry for power and status for his own good. He thinks that sleeping with me is the quickest way to C-level, and I needed him to see that my sights were set elsewhere.”

“By feeling up your waiter in front of him?” Noctis rolled his eyes. “Dick move, Ardyn. I’m not a piece of meat.”

“There’s that smart mouth again,” Ardyn took Noctis’s wrist in his hand, his fingers pressing firmly into his pale skin. “When you challenge me, Noct, it doesn’t discourage me; it makes me more determined.”

“So what’s your proposal?” Noctis knew Ardyn could feel his quickening pulse, and his tongue darted across his lips. “You don’t seem like you want a relationship.”

“A mutually favorable partnership would be a better description. You favor me with the pleasures of your body, I favor you with the benefits of my financial standing.”

Noctis raised his eyebrow. “You want me to fuck you for money.”

“Noct, you make it sound so crude,” Ardyn chuckled, lowering his voice. “Be honest with yourself, you’d have sex with me even if I wasn’t offering anything in return. I heard it in your voice the other night...so eager to please me, so hungry for my attention.” His thumb stroked along Noctis’s forearm, up the side of his hand, and back down along the thin bones on the inside of his wrist. It was a fairly innocuous touch, but the sensation went straight to Noctis’s dick. “Tell me I’m wrong, if I’m wrong.”

“You’re not wrong,” Noctis pulled his wrist away, Ardyn’s touch far too distracting for a negotiation. He had no idea what to say; discussing money made him feel like a whore, but he couldn’t simply agree to Ardyn’s demands without some kind of counter. “I want you,” he said, “and the money stuff...I’ll take it...but I need you to back off as far as Hammerhead is concerned. Stuff like the gift, and the other night...it’s causing a lot of problems with my coworkers and the owner.” He looked up at Ardyn resolutely. “Will you do that?”

“I could arrange something so you wouldn’t need to wait tables any longer,” Ardyn offered, and Noctis shook his head emphatically. “I’m keeping my job. I’m not gonna be your...concubine or whatever.”

Ardyn burst out laughing, a louder response than Noctis had ever heard from him. “You’ll be the death of me, Noct. What do you think this is, a romance novel?” He stood up from his chair, extending his hand to Noctis. “All right. I'll keep things between us professional at Hammerhead and mix up my repertoire a bit. Your head chef could stand to come up with a few new recipes as it is.”

Noctis lifted himself up from the table, shaking Ardyn’s extended hand. Ardyn had other plans and without warning pulled Noctis forward, tipping Noctis’s chin upwards into a kiss, Ardyn’s warm lips and beard stubble pressing insistently against his face. He broke the kiss and dropped Noctis’s hand, reaching for his cell phone and tapping on the screen. “My driver will be here shortly. It’s going to take every iota of my willpower to keep my hands off of you until we get back to my condo.”

“Why wait?” Noctis said, “if you don’t have to?” His heart was pounding in his throat, and he hoped that his long shirt sufficiently disguised his arousal.

“Because I promised you my bed, and I plan to make good on everything I’ve said so far. I’m looking forward to testing your limits,” Ardyn nearly purred, his hand resting in the small of Noctis’s back. A few moments later, the driver pulled up at the curb, and Noctis couldn’t recall being less grateful for New York City Sunday afternoon traffic than he was today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the plot took over when I sat down to write smut. Seems to be my lot in life.  
> I don't speak any French, BTW, although the French dubbed Ardyn voice is pretty smokin' hot.  
> Thanks Internet! :D And thanks everyone who's reading this!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NS4W in a big way, just in case you're reading this in line at Disneyland or at the airport or your mom's house or something... XD

Ardyn’s building was one lifestyle cliche after the next; the doorman knew him by name, the elevator to the upper floors required a special key, and the halls were so empty and quiet Ardyn may as well have been the only tenant. It was a far cry from Noctis’s Brooklyn walk-up and he could only imagine how many times his own somewhat unreasonable rent Ardyn paid for this place.

“What are you thinking of?” Ardyn said, his hand pressing between Noctis’s shoulder blades, guiding him down the hall from the elevator. “Be honest.”

“What your rent or mortgage must be like,” Noctis replied, intentionally ignoring Ardyn's touch, and Ardyn shook his head.

“Here I was thinking you’d say something about how desperate you were to be with me, but we’re back to money again,” he teased. “I’m a little disappointed in you, Noct.” They stopped outside an espresso wood door; Noctis noted that they were on the thirty-fourth floor, apartment number two, just in case this was actually the worst decision he had ever made in his life. Ardyn pressed his thumb to a small black rectangle above the door, and the latch clicked open.

“Nice. Guess you never lose your keys,” Noctis commented awkwardly, and Ardyn held the door open for him. He entered the foyer and looked around for a moment before the door quietly closed. Ardyn approached behind him, placing his hands on Noctis’s shoulders.

“It’s certainly convenient,” Ardyn said, his hands heavy on Noctis’s upper body. “Do you want the grand tour now, or afterwards?” Ardyn pressed his long body flush against him, breathing softly against his ear.

He swallowed, taking a deep breath to slow his pounding heart; the reality of the situation was settling in. “Um,” Noctis replied, “Can I just...use the bathroom first? You can show me around later, if you want.”

“Of course,” Ardyn motioned down the hall, “Second door on your left.” He stepped back, hung his scarf on a hook, and took his shoes off. Noctis followed suit with his own shoes and puffer jacket, padding down the immaculate dark wood floor and closing the bathroom door behind him. He could feel Ardyn’s eyes on him even after the door was shut, and he closed his eyes for a moment. Despite his lingering misgivings about this entire arrangement, he was more anxious and aroused than he had been the night he lost his virginity. Back then, he had been able to predict what his boyfriend at the time was going to say and do; Ardyn was a complete enigma, and the unpredictability alone had Noctis’s blood running hot through his veins.

Reaching into his back pocket for his phone, he glanced at his reflection in the full size mirror on the door, noting his burning ears and anticipatory crease in his forehead. There was a text from Prompto on the screen.

> u ok man?

> yeah...dont expect me to reply until tomorrow morning

> ur gonna do it huh

> yep. I'm at his place now

> if i dont hear from you tomorrow by noon im calling the cops

> i think if he was a serial killer he wouldn't have let me piss alone so i could text my friends about where i was

> if u say so Noct…

> look here's his address ok i swear i know what I'm doing

He wished he could believe the last sentence he typed, but he was too far along to turn back at this point. Noctis texted Ardyn’s address to Prompto, figured out which of the eight buttons flushed the toilet, then washed the leftover salt and grease off of his hands and dried them on one of the softest towels he had ever touched. Even Ardyn’s spare bathroom was extravagant, he thought to himself, checking his hair one last time in the mirror.

When he exited the restroom, he saw Ardyn standing behind the marble-topped island in the kitchen, sipping a drink. He had unbuttoned his cuffs and pushed up his sleeves; the sunlight glinted off the white gold Rolex on his wrist. “Do you want anything,” he asked, motioning to the bottles behind him. “Dirty martini, perhaps?”

“I hate dirty martinis,” Noctis smirked, “they’re just what I always recommend to suits who ask me what they should order.”

“Is that what I am, another corporate drone with an expense account?” Ardyn set his glass down and crossed the open area to stand next to Noctis, tilting Noctis’s chin towards him as he had in the park and narrowing his eyes slightly.

“At Hammerhead, yes,” Noctis lied, looking up at Ardyn and continuing. “When you’re my customer, you’re a demanding pain in the ass who I only deal with for the tips,” he smugly added, holding Ardyn’s gaze, keeping his lips still slightly parted once he finished speaking.

Ardyn’s hand strayed from Noctis’s chin to his mouth, tugging at Noctis’s lower lip with his manicured fingertip. “You know exactly what your backtalk does to me,” he lowered his voice, shaking his head slowly. “You’re a smart-mouthed prick sometimes. I’m used to a little more respect.” His fingers traced from Noctis’s lip to his cheek, and Ardyn suddenly pulled his his hand away. Noctis flinched, and Ardyn grinned. “You thought I was going to slap you, didn’t you?” He chuckled, “don’t tell me you’re kinky too. I didn't think you could be more appealing than you already are.”

“Were you gonna?” Noctis swallowed. His pulse was thundering in his ears as he watched Ardyn push his soft auburn hair away from his face.

“Did you want me to?” Ardyn taunted. “I did say I’d make you come, Noct, and if that’s how to get you there…”

“Not really,” Noctis responded quickly, “I mean, I want to...get off with you...I was saying no to being slapped.” He was already uncomfortably hard, and Ardyn’s brief touch lingered on his lips, begging for a continuation from the brief kiss in the park.

“Well, if you change your mind about that, I can be accommodating. Tell me what you want, Noct. I’ve been very transparent about my plans for us.” Ardyn cupped Noctis’s shoulders in his hands, his fingers pressing gently into Noctis’s shoulder blades through his t-shirt. “I did all the work on the phone, it's your turn to work for your pleasure.”

Noctis met Ardyn’s eyes, reached up and placed his hands on either side of Ardyn’s rough face and resolutely demanded, “Kiss me.”

Ardyn’s lips curled into an amused smile. “You’re such a romantic,” he murmured, dragging Noctis against him and crushing their lips together. Noctis brought his hands from Ardyn’s face to his shoulders, his conscious world becoming the movements of Ardyn’s mouth, his own pounding heartbeat, and the softness of the cashmere sweater in his hands. Ardyn cupped the back of Noctis’s neck in his free hand, leaning in to deepen the kiss, fingers twined in the thick hair at the base of his scalp.

Without another word, he started to make his way towards the rear of the apartment, stopping at the double doors that Noctis had passed on the way to the restroom. Ardyn pushed one of the doors open, and Noctis followed him through. Recessed lights came on automatically as they entered the bedroom, and Noctis surveyed his surroundings quickly. It was sparsely furnished with a bed as large as Noctis’s bedroom; directly across from the footboard was a dresser with a huge mirror that reflected the bed like a framed portrait. He was momentarily relieved that it was just a regular oversized bedroom and not, as Prompto had described, some kind of private sex dungeon.

“Does it look like you imagined?” Ardyn walked to the dresser, opening a drawer and taking out a black leather box, carrying it with him to the nightstand.

“Bigger,” Noctis said, leaving out any preconceived notions of sex dungeons.

Ardyn smirked. “Let’s get business out of the way, then. Are you clean? I assume you get tested.”

“Yeah,” Noctis replied. “Definitely. Three months ago and, uh, I haven’t been with anyone since.”

“Likewise,” Ardyn agreed, raising his eyebrow at Noctis, “tested and clean, that is. Celibacy for that length of time is another matter entirely.” His hands went to Noctis’s hips and circled his slim waist, fingertips teasing the sensitive skin above his narrow hipbones. “I’m somewhat of a hedonist, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Just a little,” Noctis said with a wry laugh, and Ardyn took Noctis’s slim wrists in his hands, pulling his arms over his head and stripping his shirt from his body.

“Look at you,” Ardyn said appreciatively, tracing a finger from Noctis’s collarbone to his navel and back, his lips curving into a smile as he grazed Noctis's nipple. “I’m going to enjoy you.” Ardyn used his other hand to hold Noctis’s hands together behind his head, using his greater height to his advantage. Noctis shuddered as Ardyn drew lazy circles around his nipples, teasing each one into peaks with his thumb and forefinger.

“You have a beautiful body,” Ardyn murmured in Noctis’s ear, teeth nipping at his earlobe as he spoke, his velvet voice almost a whisper. “On the phone...do you recall, I asked you to describe how you get yourself off, and you wouldn’t do it for me?”

Noctis nodded, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he tipped his head back to accommodate Ardyn’s lips on his neck and collarbone. “Yeah…it was kinda weird...”

“You’re going to show me now,” Ardyn continued, his hands moving to Noctis's belt buckle, pulling the leather band free from his waistband. He drew down the zipper and jerked Noctis’s pants halfway down his thighs. Ardyn stepped aside and Noctis stepped out of his jeans, leaving them in a puddle on the floor, and for a moment he wished he owned at least one good pair of underwear. Ardyn watched him with a dark, intent gaze, waiting for his next move.

“What about you?” Noctis crossed his arms over his chest, feeling very exposed in nothing but his underwear and socks.

Ardyn shrugged lightly. “In time,” he said, nodding at Noctis. “Are you waiting for me to tear those off of you?”

“Gonna buy me a fancy new pair if you do?” Noctis cocked his head at Ardyn, mimicking his smirk. He knew he’d hit one of the older man’s buttons; Ardyn pushed him backwards against the bed, hooking his fingers in the elastic waistband and stripping him bare. Noctis’s breath was heavy and his pulse was racing; Ardyn stepped back for a moment and appreciatively took in Noctis’s nude form.

“Get up on the bed,” he said, throwing off the comforter and pulling back the top sheet. Noctis lifted himself up onto the mattress, settling into the pile of pillows propped against the headboard. Ardyn sat at the foot of the bed, still fully clothed, and motioned to the nightstand. “There’s a bottle of lube in there. I’m going to watch you for a little while. Show me how to take you apart,” Ardyn said smoothly. His voice was even but his arousal was evident; Noctis felt it when Ardyn was pressed against him and he made no effort to disguise his erection as he arranged himself against the footboard. He wished Ardyn would take something off, even the watch; aside from parity, he was anxious to know what Ardyn looked like without clothes as well.

The bed was enormous; it could have fit at least two additional people. Noctis idly wondered if Ardyn had ever used it to its full potential. He took the proffered bottle from the box, warming a handful of lube in his palm and slicking it over his dick. Ardyn hummed appreciatively, and Noctis tried to relax into the pillows and focus on the task at hand. He felt ridiculously exposed; no one had ever asked to watch him masturbate, so he closed his eyes and stroked his cock as if he was alone, applying pressure along his shaft and rolling his hand over the head at the end of each pass.

“Open your eyes,” Ardyn said firmly, “Look at me.” Ardyn’s light brown eyes were trained on Noctis’s movements, his auburn hair forming a curtain around his face as he looked down at Noctis, prone on the bed. “So this...is how you like to be touched,” he said, sliding along the side of the bed and sitting between Noctis’s parted legs. Noctis kept his solo rhythm until Ardyn’s larger hand wrapped around Noctis’s cock and began moving in tandem. Soon, Ardyn had taken over entirely and Noctis was prone against the pillows, his breathing labored and his words reduced to groans. Ardyn continued to work his hand over Noctis’s dick while sucking on his collarbone, marking his torso with his lips and teeth .

“A handjob isn't enough for you, your body is screaming to be fucked,” Ardyn murmured in Noctis’s ear, twisting Noctis’s nipple with his other hand, igniting nerve endings from his torso to his groin.

“Uh huh,” Noctis groaned. His hips jerked forward to match the rhythm of Ardyn’s slick fist on his cock. “I’m gonna-” and with those words Ardyn eased back on his motion, dropping backwards into a seated position and leaving Noctis’s heavy erection completely untended. “Why did you stop?” A slight whine crept into his voice, and Ardyn’s smirk turned into a shit-eating grin.

“Watching you rut into my hand was interesting, but I think I want to feel you come as well,” he explained, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed and standing next to Noctis. “Help me out, Noct, I’m a little overdressed.” Noctis looked at his hand and back at Ardyn. “The sheets will be washed tomorrow,” he said, “but you respect fine cashmere. I’m impressed.”

“Getting lube and precome on your clothes sucks no matter what they’re made of,” Noctis sighed exasperatedly, wiping his hand on the edge of the sheet. He knelt on the edge of the bed to even their height difference, lifting the cashmere sweater over Ardyn’s head. Ardyn’s hands moved to the buttons at his collar, quickly unfastening them as Noctis eagerly slid the shirt to the floor. Noctis appreciated the subtle definition of Ardyn’s chest and stomach, exploring his nude torso with both hands.

“You’re pretty hot...for a forty year-old,” Noctis said, blue eyes glittering mischievously.

“Watch yourself,” Ardyn warned, “unless you’ve changed your mind about wanting to be slapped,” His lips and voice were smiling despite the threatening phrase. Noctis continued southwards, following the dark path of hair on Ardyn’s flat belly with his fingertips; he was vaguely disappointed when Ardyn lost patience and moved his hands away, making short work of the rest of his clothes. Seeing him naked for the first time, Noctis decided that Ardyn was definitely hot and also had a nice dick, which was fitting for a guy who acted like a dick half the time they were together.

Ardyn walked to the dresser, setting his watch next to several similar luxury pieces before returning to the enormous bed, covering Noctis's body with his own. “Come here,” Ardyn slid his arm behind Noctis’s shoulders, kissing him roughly, three-day beard scrubbing against Noctis’s smooth face. He circled his arms around Ardyn’s neck and allowed access to his open mouth, digging his fingernails into the nape of Ardyn’s neck when Ardyn bit at his lower lip, worrying Noctis’s sensitive skin with his teeth.

Noctis enjoyed kissing and initially wondered if Ardyn would kiss him at all considering the transactional nature of their relationship; he was pleasantly surprised when more than once Ardyn kissed him of his own volition. He took the opportunity to card his fingers through Ardyn’s auburn hair. It was as soft as it looked, and Ardyn closed his eyes for a moment, clearly enjoying the sensation. Noctis dragged his fingernails along Ardyn’s scalp, burying his face in Ardyn’s neck and breathing in his scent.

Ardyn kissed Noctis one last time, shifting to his side and reaching over to the nightstand. “You have a talented mouth and tongue,” he said appreciatively, “Next time, you’re going to show me what else you can do with them.” Noctis nodded his agreement while watching Ardyn roll on a condom and coat his fingers with lube. His skin prickled with anticipation, waiting for Ardyn to touch him again; the other man and glanced at Noctis, then at the dresser.

“Turn around,” Ardyn commanded, and Noctis cocked his head quizzically. “Face the mirror, Noct. I want you to see what a fucking work of art you are,” he explained. Noctis remembered the mirror on top of the dresser and realized that the placement of the furniture in the room was entirely intentional.

“...sure it’s not just ‘cause you get off on watching yourself?” He repositioned himself on the bed and glanced at his reflection in the mirror, noting his mussed hair, swollen prick, and the red marks blooming along his chest. Ardyn had been vicious but careful, leaving no mark that couldn’t be easily hidden.

Ardyn laughed, “Perhaps, but this way I can watch us both at the same time.” Strong hands pushed him down to the mattress; Noctis lay on his stomach with his arms underneath his head, eyes closed, tensing at the sensation of Ardyn’s slick fingers within the cleft of his ass.

“Do you typically bottom?” Ardyn asked, drawing slow, preliminary circles with his index finger, his tone more of a statement than a question.

“Yeah,” Noctis replied, “Not exclusively, though.” Ardyn's index and middle fingers pressed into him, slowly penetrating his body. He attempted to relax, but he still hadn’t recovered from Ardyn’s orgasm denial earlier; he was impatient and needy enough to consider asking Ardyn to skip preparation entirely. He sighed and swayed his hips back and forth suggestively, silently asking for more.

“You’re so needy…are you going to beg me?” Ardyn teased, adding a third finger, probing slightly deeper into Noctis’s ass, “I like the sound of that, Noct. Use your words, beg me to fuck you.”

“I’m not gonna beg, you son of a bitch,” Noctis shot back, testing Ardyn, and Ardyn responded by grasping a handful of Noctis’s thick black hair, pulling his head backwards. Noctis choked on his own breath, eyes flying open. “That hurts, dammit,” he snapped, and Ardyn loosened his grip, allowing Noctis to reposition his neck before sinking his fingers back inside and tightening his hold on Noctis’s hair.

“You know how I feel when you sass me,” he said, pressing down against Noctis’s prostate with two fingers, eliciting a strangled whine from the younger man, pleasure coursing through his body. “Do as I say,” Ardyn commanded, “beg me, or you can go home and jerk off. You and I both know what you want, don’t pretend you’re innocent,” he added.

“Fuck me,” Noctis groaned, no longer interested in games, roles, or anything but release, “I want you to fuck me,” he implored, his face pressed into the bed hard enough to leave sheet marks. “Ardyn, god, I need you,” he added for good measure, aware of the benefits of appealing to the other man’s sizeable ego.

“Very good,” Ardyn said, letting go of his hair, pulling his fingers out, and grasping Noctis by the hips with both hands. He moved Noctis to a kneeling position, pressing his chest into the mattress with one hand and using the other to prime his cock with another handful of lube. Ardyn spread Noctis’s ass open with a practiced hand, cursing under his breath as he slowly entered him. Noctis whined at the intrusion, arching his back and grinding against Ardyn. He grasped at the sateen bedsheets for purchase as Ardyn's hips began to rock back and forth, long strokes fully penetrating then pulling almost all the way out, leaving Noctis hungry for more.

“Come for me,” Ardyn leaned over Noctis, burying himself again to the hilt and reaching around to finish Noctis off. Noctis thrust with abandon into Ardyn's hand, tension contracting every muscle in his body. “Look up, Noct,” Ardyn ordered, “Look in the mirror, see your gorgeous, fucked-out face. This is what I’ve been envisioning all week when I think of you.” Noctis glanced up in the mirror, focusing on Ardyn’s dark eyes, clenched teeth, and lean muscular body instead of his own reflection. He let out a long, desperate groan as waves of delayed release flooded his senses and his orgasm spilled over Ardyn's hand in hot pulses.

Ardyn increased his pace after Noctis finished, fingers digging into Noctis’s hips hard enough to bruise his pale skin and slamming against him relentlessly. Noctis braced himself on the footboard, holding himself up despite wanting to collapse. “Noct…” He thrust inside of Noctis one last time with his own climax, and both men spent the next few moments working to regain their breath while reveling in a post-orgasmic high.

When he finally came down, Noctis propped himself up on his elbows and caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. “Holy shit,” he said, “the hell did you do to me? I’m gonna have to call in sick to work tomorrow.” He rubbed his hand across the beard burn on his face and red, bitten lips.

Ardyn turned around to grab a handful of tissues from the nightstand, handing some to Noctis and keeping some for himself as he carefully pulled out. “There are worse things in life than playing hooky from a job you don’t like in the first place,” he said, golden eyes glimmering, “but if you’re taking tomorrow off…you could stay here with me tonight.”

“I should go home,” Noctis replied, although the thought of spending the night in Ardyn’s enormous bed and quiet apartment was indubitably appealing compared to his own apartment with its paper-thin walls. “I didn't bring any other clothes,” he quickly reasoned.

Ardyn grinned. “You’re not going to need them until I take you home anyway, and even if I had been so careless as to tear them off of you like I was tempted to, we’d just have something new delivered tomorrow.” He wandered across the room to the dresser and returned with a glass of water, taking a drink and then handing it to Noctis. “If it’s the paycheck you’re worried about…”

“You’re the one always on my ass about discussing money at the wrong time,” Noctis commented, draining half the water in two gulps to soothe his ragged throat.

“Oh, I’m planning on being on your ass as often as I possibly can,” Ardyn returned, and Noctis rolled his eyes. “I’m going to call my VP of strategy, tell him to handle my morning meetings tomorrow. You decide what you’re going to do. If you’re still naked in my bed when I come back, I’ll assume you’re staying.”

Ardyn left the room and Noctis looked down at himself. He was exhausted, sore, and so satiated he wasn't sure if he could actually get out of bed, but in that moment he wanted a shower more than anything else in the world. Leaving abruptly felt strange; he had certainly made the walk of shame after a one-night stand in his college days, but he had a vision of Ardyn trying to pay him as he left as if he was a prostitute, and that didn’t sit well with his current endorphin bliss. He had never considered the possibility of having a sugar daddy and wasn't entirely sure how the financials worked, so instead of getting up Noctis lay in bed, waiting for Ardyn to return.

The bedroom door opened again, and Ardyn handed Noctis a damp washcloth. “To clean yourself up, if you're leaving,” he said, “I’d prefer you stayed, but I'm not going to hold you hostage, unless you're into that.” The corner of his mouth curled deviously.

“Actually…” Noctis looked up at Ardyn, and then away again, “I was thinking that, uh, if I was going to stay I really need to take a shower. I'm all sticky and gross.”

“Excellent,” Ardyn looked genuinely pleased, “but you know, my shower’s awfully big to use by yourself…”

Noctis sighed. “I figured you’d want to join me.”

“Am I so predictable already? I’ll have to work on being more mysterious,” Ardyn extended his hand and pulled Noctis out of bed, together heading towards the en-suite master bathroom. “To think, last Sunday, you were just my waiter at brunch,” he mused, bare feet padding on the warm tiled floor. “I much prefer having you to having Eggs Benedict.”

“Don't talk about food, I'm starving,” Noctis replied, closing the bathroom door behind them. “We’re getting dinner after this, right?”

“Should I call my personal chef? He normally has Sundays off.” Ardyn stepped into the shower, which was, as Noctis had assumed, the size of a walk-in closet, and motioned for Noctis to join him.

“Jesus Christ, of course you have a personal chef. No, don't bother him, let's get delivery like normal people,” Noctis said, warm water soaking his hair and running in soothing rivulets down his chest and back. He had no idea exactly what he was doing with Ardyn or where they were going with this arrangement, but as Ardyn’s soapy hands began to paint trails of bubbles over his body, he decided that wherever the ultimate destination was, he was going to enjoy the journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Noctis is a lucky man, don't you think? I wouldn't mind having Ardyn as my sugar trash daddy...  
> I wrote most of this listening to Armin Van Buuren State of Trance albums, which are pretty sexy if you ask me. "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails is also kind of Ardyn's theme song.
> 
> Hope the safer sex didn't kill the fantasy for you, I gotta have a little realism in my fan fiction. :)
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 6 (Epilogue)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consider this an epilogue.  
> A very NS4W and slightly fluffy epilogue.

** SEVERAL MONTHS LATER **

Ardyn had left for Paris two days prior; he had meetings that he couldn’t move scheduled before their vacation was to begin. Noctis was supposed to accompany him on his private charter, but Prompto had an emergency appendectomy three days before they were scheduled to leave. Noctis couldn’t leave his best friend alone in the hospital when his closest family was all the way across the country in California, and drove up to Syracuse to stay with him until he was discharged from the hospital. Ardyn was disappointed with the change in plans and complained like a child who had been denied his dessert, but ultimately understood Noctis’s loyalty to his friend. He tried to convince Noctis to take a charter flight from Syracuse, but Noctis stubbornly refused the unnecessary expense and compromised with a first-class commercial ticket out of New York City.

Noctis yawned and stretched his arms and legs, still cramped from the long international flight. The last time he had flown to Paris it had been in an economy class middle seat; fortunately, he had always been a good sleeper, and had slept through both that journey and today’s much more comfortable flight. As he walked from customs to the baggage claim area, smiling broadly at the sound of French being spoken everywhere, Noctis thought about how things had changed in the last year now that Ardyn was a part of his life.

He had continued to see Ardyn after that first autumn night, their encounters beginning as once a week on his day off work and purely sexual in nature, but as they spent more time together, the two men began to develop a rapport outside of the bedroom. Ardyn taught Noctis to play chess and Texas Hold-Em, the latter far more interesting to the younger man than the former. Noctis tried to teach Ardyn to play Grand Theft Auto V and gave up after two frustrating nights.

Noctis made it abundantly clear the morning after their first night together that he would not accept cash from Ardyn unless it was a tip while dining at Hammerhead, so Ardyn started to lavish gifts on him instead. He had no need for both a Rolex and an Audemars Piguet when he rarely wore a watch in the first place, and he sold the former in order to cover four months of rent. Ardyn was furious when he found out, and Noctis was unapologetic when Ardyn confronted him. Two weeks passed without contact before Ardyn and Noctis met again at the Shake Shack to hammer out the financial terms of their arrangement.

In the spring, Hammerhead closed for a week for renovations, and during that time Ardyn had taken Noctis to Grand Cayman Island for a vacation; Ardyn had never fished before, but under Noctis’s tutelage he was a decent angler by the time they left. In exchange, Noctis learned to appreciate small-batch Caribbean rum, obnoxiously fresh sashimi, and being bound with silk scarves and fucked senseless while listening to the tide roll in.

The Regalia’s loan had mysteriously been liquidated by the time they returned from the Caribbean; when questioned, Ardyn denied all knowledge of a wire transfer of that amount or the holding company it originated from. Noctis spent a week blindingly angry at Ardyn for spending that amount of money, refusing to see him at all. Ardyn had nonchalantly rationalized it as a similar expense to their latest vacation, but Noctis still couldn’t stomach the idea of Ardyn paying off his larger debts for him when he couldn’t even define what their relationship actually was. Once or twice in passing, Noctis found himself thinking of Ardyn as his boyfriend and quickly chastised himself, horrified that he was developing feelings for someone whose hobby seemed to be pissing him off in hopes of makeup sex.

At the same time, Ardyn came to his aid when a wine glass shattered in his hands at Hammerhead and he had to pay for an emergency room visit out of pocket, and had insisted that Noctis stay at his apartment until the stitches were removed from his hands. Noctis assumed Ardyn would demand oral sex since he couldn’t put any pressure on his palms, but to his surprise the older man didn’t suggest anything at all until Noctis initiated sex on his second night at the condo in Chelsea. Noctis had hoped that their relationship would become less complicated as the months went on; while he was certainly more comfortable with Ardyn now, he was never quite sure where Ardyn stood, to the point where Noctis was occasionally tempted to ask Ardyn exactly what the older man considered him. However, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to know the answer enough to actually ask the question.

Over the past nine months, Ardyn had repeatedly attempted to convince Noctis to quit his job waiting tables, but he stubbornly continued to work at Hammerhead out of desire to maintain his middle-class roots in spite of having a man in his life more than willing to spend thousands of dollars on him at the drop of a hat. He also harbored a secret fear that if he ever let himself become dependent on Ardyn, the other man would eventually decide that he was bored with Noctis and move on to a younger, more interesting partner. As much as Ardyn seemed to genuinely like him in the times that he wasn’t taunting or seducing him, he couldn't forget the cult of personality and razor sharp business acumen that allowed Ardyn to succeed in almost any negotiation.

His black skull-printed suitcase rolled down the belt, and he collected it quickly, heading towards ground transportation. Noctis remembered that his phone was still in airplane mode and flipped it back over to cellular mode.

> Your chariot awaits, prince. Look for a sign with your name on it. Hope you are well rested…

> ffs cut it out with that prince shit

The driver took his bags and Noctis relaxed in the back of the car, closing his eyes and dozing off until he heard, “ _Monsieur, nous sommes arrivés_.”

“ _Merci_ ,” Noctis replied, exiting the car and taking his suitcase in hand. He climbed the staircase to the third floor. Ardyn had been able to wrap up his meetings yesterday, leaving them the next five days to spend together in Paris. He knocked on the door and waited. After a minute of silence he checked his phone.

> I promised you the royal treatment for your birthday, and I deliver on my promises.

> where are you? the door is locked. last minute meeting?

> Had to run out for a moment. Key is on top of the doorframe. Let yourself in, I should be back in less than an hour.

“Son of a bitch,” Noctis sighed. The top of the doorframe would have been easy for Ardyn to reach, but Noctis ended up jumping up and down a few times, finally using an umbrella sitting outside the door to knock the key down to the floor.

Ardyn’s Parisian apartment was less modern and spacious than his Chelsea condominium but no less luxurious. A few of his personal effects such as file folders and a laptop were sitting on the coffee table, so Noctis knew he would return as promised. He dragged his bag back to the bedroom, which was appointed in the manner that Noctis had come to expect: large bed, luxury bedding, adjoining bathroom. He opened the nightstand drawer and found a veritable treasure trove of lubes and toys; Noctis swallowed and assumed for his own sanity that Ardyn had brought these from New York City and didn’t keep a separate supply in Paris. They had agreed to be sexually monogamous about six months ago; Noctis wasn’t sure about Ardyn, but he hadn’t had the urge to have sex with anyone else since they had begun sleeping together. Hell, there had been boyfriends he’d slept with less often; despite being fifteen years older, Ardyn kept Noctis on his toes, as it were, with an almost insatiable sexual appetite.

Noctis went to the window and looked out onto the city, unable to contain his elation at finally being back in Paris after so many years. He had loved the city at first sight, had been heartbroken to leave, and until meeting Ardyn he wasn’t sure he would ever be able to afford to return. When Ardyn found out his birthday was coming up, he insisted on a present of some type; Ardyn was persistent, so to appease him and end the harassment Noctis had decided on a trip to Paris that happened to coincide with meetings he had heard Ardyn mention to one of his colleagues.

Ardyn would be back in a half hour, if his timing was correct; that said, Noctis took the opportunity to shower and refresh after his long flight. He scrubbed his hair, face, and body, brushed his teeth, and wrapped himself in a thick cotton bathrobe that hung on the back of the bathroom door. With the grunge of travel washed away, he wandered back out to the kitchen to see if Ardyn had left anything in the refrigerator to eat.

While he stood in the kitchen perusing the bottle of water and bottle of champagne in the refrigerator, the front door opened and closed, deadbolt snapping shut. Ardyn entered the apartment with a bag in each of his hands, dressed in a fitted short-sleeved linen shirt and slim tailored chinos. He took off his summer fedora and peered at Noctis over the top of his Louis Vuitton sunglasses.

“Did I miss something, is it my birthday too? I didn’t expect you to already be naked and ready,” he said with his trademark lascivious grin.

“Not even a _bonjour_ ,” Noctis shook his head, closing the refrigerator as Ardyn approached him, setting his bags and sunglasses on the table as he encircled Noctis with his arms and pressed their lips together. His tongue stroked Noctis’s mouth open, and Noctis hungrily responded to his encouragement, reaching up to entwine his fingers in Ardyn’s hair and pull him closer as they kissed.

“I can’t get enough of you,” Ardyn said after a few breathless moments. “The past two days have been brutal, nothing but meetings and business dinners, all the while remembering that I should have had you waiting in my bed when I returned here.”

“Yeah, Prompto’s doing great, they released him from the hospital last night,” Noctis sighed and peered up at Ardyn. Sometimes he couldn’t believe how narcissistic the other man was. “Thanks for asking.”

“Oh yes, your friend. I’m glad that settled itself quickly. How was your flight? I can’t imagine what it must be like to fly commercial these days, even first class.” Ardyn handed Noctis a Red Bull from one of the bags on the table, and Noctis rolled his eyes, opening the can and taking a long drink.

“It was fine. Slept most of the way. Better than economy, for sure.” He finished the energy drink in two more swallows, glancing at the bags and changing the subject. “What’s in there?”

“Birthday treats,” Ardyn replied, “I know you want to get out into to the city and I’ve made dinner reservations for us tonight, but we have a lot of time to kill between now and then,” he continued, grinning at Noctis again. “I thought we could have breakfast in bed.” He picked up the bags and carried them back to the bedroom, and Noctis followed behind.

Noctis had half-expected the contents of the nightstand to be Ardyn’s idea of a birthday present and was pleased and anxious to find out that Ardyn had something else up his sleeve. Ardyn set the bags down on top of the dresser and removed two boxes and a green bottle. “Is that champagne?” Noctis asked, sitting down on the foot of the mattress. “Want me to get glasses?”

“We won’t need them,” Ardyn said, the corner of his mouth turning up. “I realize it’s not quite eight o’clock in the morning, but we are on vacation, and you only turn twenty-five once.”

“The last time I drank champagne out of the bottle was at a college New Year’s party,” Noctis said, and Ardyn laughed.

“That wasn’t champagne, I’m sure, probably some eight-dollar sparkling white that isn’t worthy of a wedding toast. This is Duval-Leroy Cuvée Femme,” he said, “along with some chocolate and croissants. Your favorites.” He opened the box of pastries, offering one to Noctis, who hadn’t forgotten how hungry he was.

“These are amazing,” Noctis said through a mouthful of croissant, watching Ardyn open the champagne bottle while devouring the pastry. “You should try a piece. I know Gladio is always lecturing you about carbs, but…” he smiled up at Ardyn. “You’re in Paris, right? Vacation calories don’t count, that’s what Cindy always says.”

“I’m sure I’ll burn plenty of calories this week,” Ardyn leered in his direction, sitting next to Noctis on the foot of the bed and taking the croissant half from Noctis without releasing his hand. He brought Noctis’s fingertips to his mouth, sucking gently on his index finger, then his middle finger, laving each one hungrily. Noctis swallowed hard, his libido suddenly more than awake. “You’re right, delicious. Just what I’ve been craving.”

Ardyn stood up from the bed and began to undress, hanging his linen shirt and pants over the back of a chair. He pulled the curtains closed, then turned back to Noctis and stepped out of his boxers. Noctis was vaguely surprised Ardyn was wearing underwear at all, as this was clearly premeditated. Ardyn was half hard already and his expression was lust personified. “Lay back,” he said, and Noctis nodded, pulling himself backwards towards the headboard. Ardyn leaned over him and arranged pillows behind his head, then untied his bathrobe, leaving it open underneath Noctis. He crossed the room and brought back the champagne and the chocolate, setting them both on the nightstand before straddling Noctis’s body and kissing his lips, behind his ears, and down the side of his throat. “You smell good,” he murmured as he explored with his hands and mouth, “you taste better.”

He picked up the bottle of champagne and took a sip, then tipped the bottle forward, offering it to Noctis, who tried to swallow from his semi-prone position. The angle and carbonation caused the champagne to bubble out and spill down Noctis's chin and over his chest.

“Oh shit,” Noctis cursed, and the mischievous look on Ardyn’s face gave away his intent. The bastard had planned this as well. “Well, you can’t let good champagne go to waste,” he said, playing along with Ardyn’s game now that he knew what game they were playing.

“It certainly would be a shame,” Ardyn agreed, and Noctis eased himself down the pillows, curving his back to make his belly slightly concave. Ardyn poured a slow stream of cold champagne onto Noctis’s throat and chest, then bent down to lap the champagne off of Noctis’s body, his warm lips and tongue following the path of the champagne from Noctis’s belly upwards to his nipples, teasing and biting until Noctis hissed and jerked his hips involuntarily. The temperature change intensified the sensation and Noctis wondered why Ardyn hadn't tried something like this sooner.

“So sensitive,” Ardyn purred, bringing the champagne bottle back to Noctis’s lips and allowing him another long drink from a more favorable angle. “How do you like it?”

Noctis swallowed the champagne, licking his lips as he finished. “It’s really good,” he agreed, “what do you think?”

“I think I could stomach Asti Spumante if I was drinking it off of you,” he said, pouring another trickle of champagne onto Noctis’s belly and lapping it up, dipping his tongue into Noctis’s navel. “Do you want to be fucked now, or later on tonight? I’m fine with either or both, just for the record.”

“Hmm...how about later,” Noctis thought out loud, remembering their week in Grand Cayman and how many times Ardyn had claimed his ass. Better to start slow when he was vaguely drunk and jet-lagged. He suddenly had an idea, and looked up at Ardyn with a hopeful grin, “Maybe...I can top,” Noctis said quickly, gauging his reaction. “Later, that is.”

“An interesting proposition,” Ardyn replied, scratching the stubble on his chin thoughtfully, “I haven’t bottomed in years, but perhaps I can make an exception for the prince on his birthday,” he said, using the nickname that he knew Noctis hated. “Seeing as you're getting ravished at least twice today, how would you prefer to kick off the festivities?”

“That drawer of toys…” Noctis continued, tentatively glancing to his left and then back at Ardyn, whose face spread into a wide grin. He took a drink from the champagne bottle and handed it to Noctis, leaning over to open the drawer. He rummaged around until he found two that he liked and a bottle of lube. Noctis pushed himself up on his elbows to see what Ardyn had chosen; there was a butt plug as well as a black cock ring sitting on the bed within arm’s reach. He looked at the toys, then at Ardyn, and then at the champagne bottle, taking one last drink before setting it on the nightstand and slipping out of the bathrobe, dropping it on the floor next to the bed. Noctis straddled Ardyn this time, blaming his assertiveness on the alcohol, not the overwhelming urge to feel Ardyn’s skin touching every inch of his own. He thought the older man might react negatively, but instead he cupped Noctis’s ass in his hands and firmly squeezed, pulling their bodies flush against each other as Noctis kissed his lips again and again.

Ardyn’s hands explored every spot they could reach, fingertips skimming along his hipbones, up his spine, and over his shoulder blades. He wound his right hand in Noctis’s hair and pressed two of his fingers against Noctis’s asshole, gently teasing him open and grinning through kisses when Noctis ground against him in response. “Already?”

“Feels good,” Noctis breathed against Ardyn’s lips, “Want you.” He stared down into Ardyn’s eyes, his own blue eyes full of desire.

“And you call me insatiable,” Ardyn shook his head. He sat up against the headboard, Noctis following suit to kneel over his lap, erection jutting forward. Ardyn opened the fasteners on the stretchy black ring sitting next to them and slid it around the base of Noctis’s cock and around his balls, adjusting the fit. “Good? Too tight?”

“No, fuck, it’s good,” Noctis gasped at the sudden increase in pressure, cursing through his teeth when Ardyn gave his dick a couple of exploratory strokes.

“It’s been awhile since we used one of these. Too long, I think.” Ardyn leaned back and examined his handiwork. “I forgot how tantalizing you are in restraints. I could admire you all day long, like a work of art.”

“Don't just look,” Noctis braced himself on Ardyn’s broad shoulders, dropping his forehead against the other man’s. Precome was dripping from the tip of his dick and Ardyn reached down to circle Noctis with his hand, increasing the pressure on his already swollen member. He groaned and pushed into Ardyn’s fist insistently, using his body to ask for more, but Ardyn kept his caresses light.

“Lean against the wall,” Ardyn’s tone was authoritative. Noctis obeyed, kneeling in front of the pillows and resting his arms against the wall above the headboard. Ardyn crawled out from under his legs and stood at the edge of the bed, offering Noctis a swig of champagne to wet his lips before taking another drink of his own.

“You know, my colleagues would be horrified to know that I drank champagne in such a low-class fashion,” he said, squeezing out a handful of lube and smearing it over Noctis’s hole, following suit with the butt plug, making sure all four adjoining spheres were well covered down to the flared base. Noctis dropped his hips and arched his back slightly, lifting his ass into the air.

“Licking it it off of me?”

“They might expect that, depending on who you ask. Some are aware of my libertine nature. I meant drinking such a fine vintage from the bottle, like a drunken college boy.” He grinned at Noctis. “Tell me, Noct. Did you get fucked that night, at that New Year’s party?” Ardyn held the toy by its base and pushed the first quarter inside Noctis’s body while his hand lazily fondled Noctis’s straining cock.

Noctis sighed, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth. “Just...a blowjob,” he said, vaguely recalling the encounter through his current lustful haze. At the time it had been memorable but paled in comparison to the present.

“Just a blowjob?” Ardyn replied, pressing the flared end on the plug until it had disappeared halfway inside, watching Noctis twitch and quake at the intrusion. “Don’t diminish the importance of blowjobs. I remember it was one of the first things you admitted to me, that you like to give and receive head. I’ve never forgotten that phone call.”

“Wanted more than head,” Noctis dropped his forehead to the wall, sweat beading on his temple as Ardyn slid the last half of the toy into him and stroked his engorged prick, moving down to his balls then back up again. “You’re going to kill me,” he whined, “I wanna come...” He involuntarily arched his back, the muscle tension intensifying the sensation of the silicone toy inside his body. Each of the spheres hit a different bundle of nerve endings, and Ardyn laughed mischievously at Noctis’s desperate moan.

“Your voice when you’re aroused like this is musical, Noct. Prove to me how badly you want me,” he continued, “show me how much you deserve to come.”

Noctis knew this game well, but rarely tired of it. “Come here,” he said, drawing in a deep breath, “lemme suck your cock.” He moved gingerly to the center of the bed, every motion sending a new burst of endorphins through his body. Ardyn took his place on the bed and Noctis dropped down on all fours between Ardyn’s legs, taking the other man’s dick in his hand and wetting his lips with his tongue.

“I like when you’re this desperate,” Ardyn said, his hand on the crown of Noctis’s skull as he swallowed Ardyn’s cock, sucking in his cheeks and rolling his tongue back and forth over the ridge where the head met the shaft. He continued this motion, using his hand to assist, looking up at Ardyn with wide eyes as he relaxed his throat to take more in.

“Beautiful blue eyes,” Ardyn muttered, his hand pushing Noctis’s bangs away from his eyes for a better look, “The way you stare, with your smart fucking mouth wrapped around my cock…” He groaned and snapped his hips upwards, bumping the head of his prick against the back of Noctis’s throat. Noctis gagged slightly, but continued to alternate motion and suction, fingers digging into Ardyn’s thighs for support.

Ardyn grasped the side of Noctis’s head in his hands and held him in place; Noctis stared up at Ardyn, worshiping his dick with lips and tongue as Ardyn’s hands guided his pace and motion. The pressure and stimulation from the cock ring and the butt plug was incessant; he hoped that Ardyn wouldn’t last much longer, because he wasn’t sure how much more he could endure.

“Fuck,” Ardyn cursed. Noctis felt Ardyn’s cock throb, and knew that the other man was close. He dropped his hand between Ardyn’s legs, cupping his balls, slowly lowering his head until his lips touched the base of Ardyn’s cock, then bobbing back up quickly. He concentrating on the head while using his hand to deliver quick strokes to Ardyn’s thick, veined shaft until Ardyn made a strangled noise, screwing his eyes shut. He held Noctis’s head in place, fisting his hands in his hair and filling his mouth with his orgasm.

Noctis swallowed as quickly as he could, and when he finally pulled back, his jaw was weary and his breathing rapid. Ardyn opened his eyes at last, running his thumb over the corner of Noctis’s mouth, damp with a mixture of saliva and come. He cupped Noctis’s cheek in his hand and leaned forward to kiss his lips. “You’ve earned this, you thirsty minx,” Ardyn said, “come to me Noct, claim what's yours to take.”

Noctis linked his arms around the other man’s neck, his narrow chest pressing against Ardyn’s broad torso, head on his shoulder. Ardyn slicked his hand with more lube and began stroking Noctis’s dick, his stray hand reaching up to tweak one of Noctis’s nipples. Noctis could feel Ardyn’s laughter against the top of his head when he shuddered into Ardyn’s broad chest, driving into the other man’s hand as every cell in his body reacted to one of three alternating pleasure points.

“Please...Ardyn, I can’t…” he stuttered, and his voice broke when Ardyn reached back and started to pull the butt plug out one sphere at a time. “Take the ring off…” he begged, fingernails digging into Ardyn’s neck as waves of ecstasy rolled through his body. He was wrong to have assumed at any point that Ardyn would let him come quickly, and he cursed himself for not knowing better after this much time.

Ardyn’s voice was sultry, murmuring down at Noctis, “Are you sure? You’ve already finished me off…this is fun for me, I could tease you all morning, keep taking you to the very edge and then stopping, until just the thought of an orgasm has you crying for my touch.” He pulled the next two spheres free, continuing to work his hand over Noctis’s cock. Noctis buried his face in Ardyn’s neck, his heart pounding and his eyes watering. This was torture of the most exquisite kind, and in these moments he liked and hated Ardyn in equal measure.

“Ardyn, you son of a bitch,” Noctis begged, muscles clenched tightly around the last section of the butt plug as Ardyn finally removed it completely. His cheeks were damp with frustration and his knees were gelatin, but he couldn't remember the last time he felt this good. “Let me come…” he pleaded, and Ardyn kissed the top of his head, reaching down and unsnapping the cock ring with one hand, letting it fall to the bed while quickening the pace of his hand. Noctis groaned, the pressure release bringing him to his breaking point, legs nearly giving out under him as he covered Ardyn’s chest and stomach with come.

He clung to Ardyn for several moments afterwards, until the other man loosened his grip around his neck and looked down at himself. “You've made quite a mess of me, haven't you,” Ardyn commented, shaking his head bemusedly. “I've got half a mind to have you clean me up with your tongue, but we can save that for another time, perhaps when you’ve been less obedient,” he said, pupils still wide and dark.

“Holy shit,” Noctis finally said, feeling finally returning to his toes. He opened his eyes and glanced at Ardyn. “Sorry about that,” he said awkwardly, and Ardyn shook his head.

“It was worth it,” Ardyn said, “as you know, Noct, there are few things that I enjoy more than your desperate, obscene voice begging me to come.” He helped Noctis off of the bed and the two men spent a few moments in front of the bathroom mirror cleaning up before returning to the bed. Noctis laid bonelessly across the mattress on his stomach, thankful that the warm Parisian summer meant that he didn't have to get dressed again right away. He hadn't felt too jet-lagged before, but the powerful orgasm combined with champagne and the weariness that always accompanied a long journey had him half asleep.

Ardyn opened the box of chocolate and took one out, offering it to Noctis, who lifted his head and snatched it from Ardyn’s fingers with his lips, grinning as he let it melt in his mouth. “Takes care of the taste,” he said devilishly.

“It’s not that bad,” Ardyn said defensively.

Noctis rolled over and perused the contents of the candy box, eating two more pieces in rapid succession. “Yeah, well, your ‘not that bad’ is nowhere near as good as French chocolate, that’s for damn sure.”

“I suppose you have a point. Have you enjoyed Paris so far?” Ardyn said, fingertips idly tracing over the faint smattering of freckles on Noctis’s pale shoulders, remnants of summers spent on the Jersey shore.

“Yeah,” Noctis nodded, pushing the chocolate away after another piece, “it’s been awesome...and I’m looking forward to doing stuff outside of these four walls, too.” A broad smile lit up his face. “I’m glad I could come back here,” he said, “thanks for...this, and I guess...you know...everything.” He yawned and rolled over onto his back, leaning his head on Ardyn's bare thigh. “You’re not so bad, for a sex-addicted egomaniac with weird clothes and a watch fetish.”

Ardyn shook his head, mildly irritated but mostly amused. “Well, you’re the best stubborn, smart-mouthed money-sink with no respect for cuisine or fashion that I could imagine.”

“I’m gonna take a nap, okay?” Noctis grasped blindly at the end of the bed, locating the sheet and draping it over the lower half of his body, still using Ardyn’s leg as a pillow.

“It’s barely nine in the morning, but why would this be any different from every other time you fall asleep right after sex?” Ardyn shifted to the side and shoved a pillow underneath Noctis’s head. “I’m not letting you pass out on me; I’ve got no plans to waste the morning in bed if all you’re going to do is sleep.”

“Wake me up for lunch,” Noctis mumbled, and in a few moments was out cold. Ardyn quietly padded to the living room, glancing at the work he had left on the coffee table. There were emails to answer and calls that could be made; he remembered that he was on vacation and opted for the book he had started reading on the flight to Paris. In direct opposition to his previous statement, Ardyn returned to the bedroom, sitting close to Noctis and reading while the younger man slept. As he turned the pages of his book, his free hand strayed to Noctis’s dark hair, brushing loose strands away from his forehead.

“Happy birthday, Noct,” Ardyn said, his voice barely a whisper over Noctis’s quiet snoring and the muffled sounds of the city outside.

** \-  END  - **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gladio is Ardyn's trainer, if it wasn't obvious.
> 
> The last chapter was supposed to be the end but these two just wouldn't let me go!
> 
> As for the fluffiness, I've got a powerful weakness for soft, but still sexxxxay ArdyNoct (I blame gorgeous art by @owlteria and a handful of Japanese artists on twitter) and while there will never be epic sparkly love confessions in fields of sylleblossoms or anything, in this AU, after almost a year together I think they've developed some degree of affection for each other. Doesn't mean Ardyn will ever let Noct have it easy, though...
> 
> Or, to quote Guardians of the Galaxy, "I don't know if I believe anyone is 100% a dick..."
> 
> That's it now. I promise. Thank you so much for reading this indulgent AU fantasy :)


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